Kensho: The Banners and the Envelopes
Before certain bouts, a line of banners is carried slowly around the ring. After the bout, the winner is handed a stack of envelopes. Both are the same thing, and counting the banners is the fastest way to tell how important a bout is.
懸賞 (kensho) is prize money put up by sponsors for a particular bout. Each sponsorship buys one banner and one envelope, and the winner of the bout takes them all.
What you actually see
Before the bout. The banners are carried in a slow lap of the ring, one at a time, each showing a sponsor's name. Depending on the bout there may be none at all, or a long procession of them.
After the bout. The referee holds out his 軍配 (gunbai) with the envelopes on it, and the winner takes them.
What one banner is worth
The amount is fixed rather than negotiated. A sponsor pays ¥70,000 for one banner, and ¥60,000 of that goes to the wrestler who wins the bout.
So the arithmetic in front of you is simple. Six banners on a bout means ¥360,000 changing hands in the few seconds it takes to decide, and the man who loses receives none of it.
The hand movement
Before he takes the envelopes, the winner makes three small chopping motions with one hand over the referee's gunbai. This is called 手刀 (tegatana) — literally "hand sword".
It is not a flourish. It is part of the act of receiving, and it is done in a set order. Wrestlers who forget it, or do it carelessly, are noticed.
Most sports keep prize money on a spreadsheet. Sumo carries it around the ring on poles, announces whose it is, and then hands it over in front of everybody. The transaction is part of the show — which is unusual, and worth noticing the first time you see it.
How to read the banner count
This is the practical use of kensho for a viewer.
Sponsors put money on bouts they expect people to watch. So a bout with a long procession of banners is one that somebody with money believed would matter, and a bout with none is one they did not.
That gives you a signal the banzuke does not. Two men of similar rank can attract very different numbers of banners, and the difference tells you something about reputation, rivalry and public interest rather than about ranking.
The trap for new viewers
The envelopes are not the wrestler's salary, and they are not the tournament prize. They are money attached to that single bout, put up by outside sponsors, and won or lost in a few seconds. A wrestler can win a championship without taking home many of them, or take home a great many and finish the tournament with a losing record.
What is announced, and what is not
The company names belong to the banners. They are carried past for everyone to read, and that is how a sponsor gets what it paid for.
The announcement after the bout is a different thing: it is the winner's name and the kimarite. So if you are listening for the sponsors at the end, you are listening at the wrong moment — their part happened before the two men started.
What to watch for
On the final day of a tournament, count the banners on the last bout of the day and compare it with a bout from earlier in the afternoon.
You will not need to know either wrestler's name to see the difference. The sponsors have already told you which one they thought you would be watching.
The man holding the envelopes, and why his decision is not the final one.